Tourniquets are devices that can control venous and arterial circulation to extremities. In operation, tourniquets apply pressure circumferentially upon skin and underlying tissues of a limb. The pressure transfers to the walls of vessels, causing them to compress, constrict, and become temporarily occluded. To avoid further injury to the limb, the tourniquet pressure should be sufficient to stop blood flow, but should not be strong enough to damage tissue, nerves, and/or blood vessels.
In general, tourniquets are categorized as either surgical tourniquets or emergency tourniquets. Tourniquets used during surgery allow surgeons to work on limbs in a bloodless setting, and accordingly include specialized instruments to gauge the correct pressures for specific applications. Surgical tourniquets, for example, are generally pneumatic devices that include pressure gauges, electrical inflation mechanisms, sensors, and/or outer devices suitable for hospital settings. In contrast, tourniquets used in emergency settings are used to prevent severe blood loss prior to a victim reaching a state of shock and prior to hospital care. Thus, emergency tourniquets are configured to facilitate easy and quick application to stop blood flow from a limb prior to more intensive hospital care.
Emergency tourniquets are especially advantageous in military settings, where pre-hospital care is critical. During combat, for example, explosions (e.g., improvised explosive devices) and gun fire can result in traumatic injuries that require immediate occlusion of blood flow. Additionally, formal medical care may not be readily available in combat situations. Thus, emergency tourniquets are often stored on military personnel and/or in military vehicles to ensure tourniquets are available when traumatic bleeding injuries occur. However, military personnel generally carry heavy gear (e.g., weaponry, backpacks, water containers, etc.) when in combat, making the additional storage of a tourniquet inconvenient. Additionally, tourniquets stored in military vehicles may be difficult to access after an injury causing event because the vehicle may be difficult to reach and/or retrieval of the tourniquet may be impractical due to damage to the vehicle.